| Home | Our Hope | |
| Bible Study |
|
April 7, 2025 |
| So That You May Know | ||
Jesus occasionally tells his listeners that something will happen so that they may know something about him. Instead of the word "know", he sometimes uses a different word like "believe"; thus, he says, "So that you may believe." But the idea is the same.
We are going to look at some of the places where he says that and understand what he means and what they will know.
Jesus had a problem. He was born like any other man, and he looked like any other man. He was a man.
He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should desire Him. (Isaiah 53:2)
He wasn't going to tell them outright who he was, and he wasn't going to give them proof. They needed to accept him by faith.
How were people to recognize him and accept him as God and savior? One way was to hear his teaching and believe. Another way was to recognize him by the prophecies about him. Some understood those prophesies and showed it by things they said about him and to him, but they were in the minority. Fortunately, there was another way - signs. Events that showed who he was.
In Luke and Matthew, Jesus talks about the difficulty people are having recognizing him. Along with that, he talks about how they should be recognizing him.
He said to the crowds, "Whenever you see a cloud that rises from the West, and at once you say, 'Rain is coming', it is so. 55 And when a south wind blows, you say, 'It will be hot', and it is. 56 Accepters of faces, you know to discern the face of the earth and sky, how do you not discern this time? 57 Why don't you judge the truth from yourselves?" (Luke 12:54-57)
He is saying they are very good at judging earthly events by the earthly signs they see. Then he wonders why they are so bad at judging what is going on.
Matthew says much the same thing as Luke did, but there are valuable differences.
But he answered and said to them, "Whenever it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'. 3 And in the morning you say, 'There will be a storm today, for the sky is gloomily red.' Respecters of persons! You know how to observe the appearance of the sky; do you not know how to distinguish the signs of this time?" (Matthew 16:2-3)
In this case, Jesus uses a different idiom, "respecters of persons." This means hypocrites. In a recent lesson, we talked about various kinds of hypocrisy and saw that some of them were strange. This is another one. The message is that they judge the weather one way but judge events around them in a different way. He continues:
We see that they weren't all that good at recognizing the signs, either.
The following set of verses comes from Mark 2:5-12. There are almost identical verses beginning at Matthew 9:2 and Luke 5:21. Jesus provokes an incident so he can give the Scribes and Pharisees a sign so they will know who he is. He is even going to tell them that is what he is doing.
When Yeshua saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven you." 6 But the Pharisees and the Scribes sitting there thought in their hearts, 7 "Who is this speaking blasphemy? Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?"
8 Yeshua knew in his spirit that they were thinking these things in themselves. He said to them, "Why do you reason these things in your hearts? 9 "What is easier to say to the paralytic: 'Your sins are forgiven you', or to say, 'Arise, take your litter, and walk.'? 10 "But that you may know the son of Man is authorized to forgive sins in the earth", he said to the paralytic, 11 "I say to you, get up, pick up your bed and go home."
12 And immediately he stood up, picked up his pallet and went out before the eyes of all of them, so that they were all astonished and they glorified God, as they were saying, "We have never seen such a thing!" (Mark 2:5-12 also Matthew 9:2, Luke 5:21)
It is possible for one man to forgive another man for sins that were done to him. We are even called to do that, just as the Lord's prayer says, "forgive us our sins even as we forgive all who are indebted to us."
That isn't what's going on here, though, and the Scribes and Pharisees know it. This man had never met Jesus before and couldn't have sinned against him. Therefore, Jesus is forgiving sins against God as though Jesus were God.
They would jump up and stone him for blasphemy right there … except they know that Jesus could say he was only forgiving a sin the man did against him - just forgiving as a man, as men should do.
Jesus spoke this way all the time. He used words with two meanings, and he said things that could be interpreted two ways. The purpose was to give out hints about who he was, without being killed for blasphemy, at least until the time was right. Ok, back to the verses.
Not many people understand what Jesus is saying here. It's a complicated idea. They see that he is telling the paralyzed man to get up, pick up your bed, and go home. They also see that this is supposed to show the Scribes and Pharisees that Jesus is authorized to forgive sins against God, but they don't see how healing a man shows that.
The idea is that if Jesus blasphemed against God at the start of this passage by saying, "My son, your sins are forgiven you" then God would certainly not allow the man to be healed. So, if the man is healed, then Jesus did not blaspheme God, and therefore Jesus was authorized to forgive sins against God.
Notice how Jesus began using the word "authorized". Again, it's a way for him to avoid claiming to be God, while claiming to be God. By saying "authorized", Jesus could be nothing more than a man whom God had authorized to forgive sins against God. The Scribes and Pharisees know what Jesus really means, but they are powerless to do anything against him.
The Scribes and Pharisees were right that God could only forgive sins against God. Jesus has given them a sign to show them that he is authorized by God to forgive sins against God. If nothing else, this should cause them to ask themselves, who is this man that God trusts him to forgive sins against God? Obviously, this man is trusted by God. Perhaps we should listen to him. Instead, they hate him.
Later on, the Scribes and Pharisees came up with a way to work around this. They claim that Jesus heals by the power of Baal-Zebub. That really doesn't help them, though. Would God allow Satan to heal in God's name? Not likely.
Now, back to the verses.
The verse says, "before the eyes of all of them." We would say that a little differently, like, right in front of us, we saw it with our very own eyes.
In the previous example, Jesus' works were to be a sign that they could know he was authorized to forgive sins against God. That left them to answer the question, who is this man that God has authorized him to forgive sins against God. However, they were blinded by their hatred for him and would not think about that question.
In the next example, Jesus' works are to be a sign that Jesus was sent by his father, who is God.
"If I am not doing the works of my Father, you should not believe me, 38 But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe me, believe those deeds, so that you may know and that you may believe that my Father is in me and I in my Father." 39 And they again sought to seize him, and he escaped from their hands. (John 10:37-39)
Jesus is being cagey again. He doesn't directly claim to be God or the son of God, in the sense of god-from-god. From things he has said previously, though, his listeners know what he means. All they can see is a man claiming to be God - which would be blasphemy.
They had wanted proof, but they completely ignored the sign. Once again, a question is presented to them. Who am I that I can do these things? They ignore the question and instead look for stones with which to kill him.
In this case, Jesus' death will be a sign so people will know some things.
Yeshua spoke again to them: "When you have lifted up the son of Man, then you shall know that I Am (the living God), and I do nothing for my own pleasure, but just as my Father has taught me, so I am speaking." (John 8:28)
The phrase "lifted up" is used here. It's as unclear in English as it was in Aramaic. It could have many meanings, ranging from exalted or glorified to the more physical meaning of being crucified on a cross. At that time, the disciples didn't know which meaning was meant.
He means, when you see that I was saying I would be crucified, you will know these two things:
Jesus uses the phrase, "I am." The translator adds "the living God" to make it clear that this is the "I AM" reference that is used by God. Jesus' point is that the disciples will know that Jesus knew this death was coming and therefore, he was God. The Bible also tells us of other signs that accompanied his death. Those led other people to know that he was God.
Jesus also says, they will know that Jesus didn't do this for his own pleasure. No one is crucified for the pleasure of being crucified. That's obvious, but there is more to it than that. Knowing the path that he was on, Jesus could have taken action to avoid this fate. He could have made himself scarce - meaning disappeared - or he could have said things differently, or he could have chosen a different disciple than Judas. So, not only was this not a pleasurable fate, it was a fate that he could have avoided - but he did not. Therefore he was crucified, not to please himself, nor by accident, nor by his own will.
Then Jesus says, "just as my father has taught me." He is referring to everything he has done and would do, which includes crucifixion.
In total, then, Jesus is saying that, when he is crucified, his disciples will know that he is God and that everything he did was the will of his father.
Jesus quotes a prophecy about himself that is about to be fulfilled.
"I have not spoken about all of you, for I know those whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.', 19 now I am telling you before it happens, that when it has occurred, you shall believe that I Am (the living God)." (John 13:18-19)
He doesn't name Judas, but that's who Jesus is speaking about. He is telling his disciples to watch for a close friend turning against him. The phrase "lifted up his heel" was an idiom of King David's time. Maybe it was still an idiom of Jesus' time. It evokes the image of someone lifting up his foot to smash the heel down on something. In the full context, it means someone who is close and would be expected to be a trustworthy friend is going to strike against Jesus.
Jesus is quoting from a psalm.
Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9)
Many would have doubted that this psalm was a prophecy. It could easily be seen as nothing more than David talking about how God rescued him from, as David often does. There are hints in it, though, that there is more in focus than only David. For example, verse 2 says, "Yahweh will keep him and keep him alive."
Because few, if any, would have seen it as a prophecy, Jesus points it out as a prophecy, and in the same stroke, he declares his understanding of the Bible and his foreknowledge of events and prepares his disciples to recognize the event when it happens.
The point here is that when the disciples see this prophesied event happen, they will believe that Jesus is God.
We see the same I AM reference here that we saw before. Again, without saying he is God, Jesus says he is God.
I'm certain all of this happens too fast for the disciples to see the prophecy fulfilled as it happens. From the time that Judas betrays him, it is less than a day until Jesus is dead. Later on, though, they will remember.
In the next example, we see Pilate making a public demonstration so the people will know that he has examined Jesus and found nothing wrong with him.
And Pilate went outside again and he said to them, "Behold, I bring him forth to you outside that you may know that I find no occasion for complaint in him, not even one cause." (John 19:4)
In the Roman world, accused people were brought before the judge who sat on a seat of judgment. This was done in an outside courtyard. It was Pilate's practice to question accused persons privately inside the judgment hall. Perhaps this was also common in the Roman world.
It may have been a necessity here because a large, raucous crowd had brought him in, and the crowd would interfere with Pilate's effort to question the accused.
In the Gospels, we see some of the things Pilate asked Jesus while questioning him inside. Jesus doesn't give him much for answers, but the accusers haven't given Pilate much for charges under Roman law, only that Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews, which Jesus never claimed. Also, there was no evidence of any insurrection, and Pilate can see that Jesus isn't the type anyway.
Having questioned him, Pilate brings Jesus out before the crowd to announce the decision. A public declaration may have been a requirement of Roman law when an accused person was found to be innocent. This would let the people know that he was questioned and found innocent.
We see elsewhere in the Bible that accusers who brought innocent people to court were abused by others in the court for wasting the judge's time and the time of people who had valid cases.
For our study, though, we see that Jesus was brought out before his accusers so they would know he had been questioned and was found to be without guilt.
Until the very end, Jesus refused to tell the people who he was. He wanted them to accept him as an act of faith, but faith requires some foundation. To look at him, there was nothing special to see. How could people accept him as God when he appeared to be only a man?
How were they to recognize him? Many people heard him teaching and believed in him that way.
That wasn't the only way they could recognize him. He gave them other ways to know, signs they could see, if they could see them for the message they brought.
In this study, we've only looked at the signs where the Bible says the sign is, "So that you may know."
The first signs we saw were the miracles, but there is a problem with those. They don't definitively say that Jesus is God. There were prophets before Jesus who also did miracles. Some even raised the dead. So these don't seem that helpful. But the Bible quotes people asking, "Will the Messiah do more miracles than Jesus?" The number of miracles was part of the sign. Jesus would do more miracles than any prophet had done.
There was another sign. Jesus showed that he was authorized to forgive sins against God. Who else in all the Bible was authorized to do this? No one.
We've also seen that his crucifixion would be a sign that he was God, and, not only that, but also that he was doing this according to the will of his father.
Another sign as to who Jesus was came from prophecy being fulfilled. This can be a tricky one. Sometimes, a person can take an action to make it look like a prophecy was about him. The prophecies that make the best signs are the ones where the person played no role in their fulfillment. For example, it was prophesied that Jesus would be sold for 30 pieces of silver. In the fulfillment of that prophecy, that number was decided between Judas and the Pharisees. Jesus played no role.
The last sign we saw, though he didn't intend it this way, was Pilate declaring Jesus innocent. Pilate was doing what he always did with innocent people. Yet, it was also a fulfillment of prophecy.
There were many other signs besides these, but most people missed them. Similarly, the Bible has prophesied many signs of the end times. Like it was in the first coming, I think we can expect that many of God's people will miss the signs of the second coming. Will you be one of those who can see the signs?